It holds great potential for Irish producers and was the backdrop for the world’s leading food fair, Anuga 2013.

The event takes place every two years in Cologne, Germany, and this year’s event was bigger than ever with over 6,700 exhibitors from 95 countries participating. From 5 to 9 October, it was expected to attract more than 155,000 trade visitors from 185 countries.

After France, Germany is Ireland’s largest export market in continental Europe. In 2012 Irish food and drink exports to Germany were worth €519m, an increase of almost 6% on 2011. Irish beef exports account for 17% of the total, with all meat exports accounting for 25%. The performance in 2013 is even more positive, with January to June exports 21% ahead of the previous year.

Beef market grows

Bord Bia recognised the lack of availability of Argentinean beef as an opportunity to re-establish Irish beef in the German market.

Beef into Germany is Bord Bia’s single biggest marketing campaign in the organisation, and is delivering in terms of volume and returns. The value of our beef exports to Germany in 2010 was €45m; by 2012 this had doubled to €90m (15,000 tonnes). It is expected that 2013 will top this figure, surpassing €100m and 16,500 tonnes.

This is quite an achievement considering that Germany is 107% self sufficient in beef. A niche market has been carved out here for Irish grass fed beef. Even more impressive is the fact that this beef is being sold at a 10% premium to the German beef price. This places Irish beef from the suckler herd as a premium product.

The target market for this beef includes high income professionals with an interest in premium food. Awareness of Irish beef in this group has risen from 40% to 52% in the past year. Irish beef is available today in over 10,000 retail and foodservice outlets, compared with 2,500 three years ago. The benefits of this marketing campaign are obvious. We are now in year three of the planned three-year campaign. With such positive results, should we be focusing on extending our marketing investment beyond three years?